Before They Met
by sissannis
Summary: Before They Met is a companion piece to Names? The story will covered all the unanswered questions from Names? Questions of their pasts, before they met, like how did Sirius made it out of The Veil and how come they never met before. AU!Hermione. The rest are book canon.
1. Author Note

A/N

Hello, everyone!

Before They Met is a companion piece to Names? (Thanks, E! x)

 **I strongly recommend you to read Names? first.**

This is gonna be confusing but each chapter from here is a chapter after chapter from Names?

Reference:

1\. Coffee (Names?)

2\. Dinner (Before They Met)

3\. ? (Names?)

4\. ? (Before They Met)

I write it like this because I wanted their identity to be a mystery for the first part of this universe.

The second part of this universe (Before They Met) will covered all the unanswered questions of their pasts, before they met, like how did Sirius made it out of The Veil and how come they never met before.

Thank you for all your support and reviews and favourites and follows! I appreciate them so much!

 **I dedicate this story especially to my lovely guest, CD. I hope you love this as much as you loved Names?**

x

ーsissannis


	2. Dinner

**_A/N: hello! This is what happened after Sirius left the cafe abruptly for his dinner date with his godson. Enjoy!_**

* * *

He ran two blocks away before he spun himself to make sure no one noticed him. Confident that he was left to his own device, ignored by passers by, he took a sharp turn to the alley between two buildings, which kind of ratty and smelled like piss but it was private enough. Without delay, he disapparated.

He landed on a very slippery park across of Grimmauld Place. _It was the rain,_ he thought as he jumped across a small puddle only to fall flat on his face tragically. Sirius had no idea what was Merlin's problem with him today. First the storm, now this. And he couldn't even clean himself because apparently, he was too arrogant to bring his wand with him today. He grumbled under his breath words that Molly would scourgify his mouth for.

Sirius now stood in front of the wall between two doors with carved plaque of no. 11 and no. 13 attached on each door. He closed his eyes as he whispered, "number twelve of Grimmauld Place" and the empty wall he was looking at stretched out and gradually the whole missing unit of number twelve appeared unbeknown by other occupants; muggles.

He was greeted by a loud wail of a baby boy and a hushed voice of a young man, "come on, little guy. Sleep for your daddy, please!"

"You have no right to complain, Harry. You were worse," Sirius said with his body leant on the nursery's door frame.

"Ginny had to leave earlier than scheduled. Apparently they won't start practise without her. She's a seeker for goddamn's sake. They could just start without her and it won't effect their game plan!" Harry huffed in annoyance as he looked for his son's favourite quilt and he found it lumped behind the door. How it ended up hidden right there, he had no idea. "Can you help scour this for me, please?"

Sirius took the quilt from his son. He studied the small cloth which interestingly had emblems of the four houses of Hogwarts in square, patched together, making this the coolest quilt he'd ever seen. He wasn't even sure if he'd ever seen a quilt before. Being an excellent pureblood family, silks, satins, and wools were their choices. He felt a rush of his younger proud rebellious self washed over him as he leant his body back from the door frame and let his eyes roamed freely around his old family house.

What once painted in black and Slytherin's green now covered with bright cheery colours. Moving and unmoving pictures filled the wall where his dreadful ancestors were once resided. The grim ol' Grimmauld Place had turned into vim ol' Grimmauld Place. He took pride at his godson's efforts to make this place seemed... appealing. Even his mother's screams wouldn't be able to overcome the happiness this place had oozed since Harry and Ginny moved in. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard his mother's lovely voice at all today. Even yesterday. Even the day before yesterday. Even before the day before yesterday. He cocked his head slightly to one side. His brows knotted together as his mind whirled about. Since when?

"Sirius? The quilt?" Harry flicked his left wrist impatiently towards him, whilst James tucked safely in his sturdy right arm.

"Oh! Yes yes. The cleaning spell." He rushed to his room, the master bedroom, two floors up to get his wand and being a capable wizard with his wand now, he apparated directly to James' nursery.

 _"Scourgify!"_ With a flick of his wand, the quite dusty quilt now cleaned up nicely, ready to be wrapped around Prongslet Jr..

"Thanks, Sirius." Harry bundled up his baby with the cool quilt and James quieted down instantly. Seeing Sirius' confused face, Harry explained to him, "his godmother stayed over for a week last month, when you were busy in Egypt helping Bill with dark curses on one of the mummies; and Ginny was out of town for that charity event, the friendly match. And the profit from tickets' sold went to Fred Orphanage, a tribute to his late brother."

Harry paused and sent his silent prayer to Fred.

"So Hermione came to the rescue and saved me from what could have been a disastrous week! Thank Merlin for your godmother's obsession over you, little Jamesy." James squealed in delight as though he understood what the messy haired adult said to him.

"She spent most of her time baby sitting James in the library, her heaven. Oh, and by the way, she sent her gratitude to Lord Black for letting her roam about his humongous library."

"Again," said Sirius with a smirk. Hermione never missed sending him her gratitude whenever she came over and used The Black's family library. It was such a shame they'd never crossed path, not even once. Not even during The Tri-wizard Tournament. Not even when she broke into Department of Mysteries with his son and their hooligans. Not even after he came out of The Veil.

"Again," Harry agreed. His index finger now clutched in James' tiny hand.

"It's amazing how James behaved extremely well around Hermione that it pissed me off so much. Some time in that week, she stumbled upon a handy spell book called "The Perfect Matriarch" and being Hermione, she finished it in one seating. No surprises there. And she told me about the book. Intrigued and still pissed, I put up a wager. Within that week, she must perform five housewives spells perfectly," Harry chuckled at his ridiculousness.

"You never met her, but Hermione, oh Merlin, that girl will never back down from a challenge. Easily riled up! I lost count on how many times the Weasleys sparks her brown eyes into an intense shade of amber. She's fun to play with." Harry passed one happy James to Sirius so he could start cleaning the mess he made earlier just to find the damn quilt.

"She accepted the challenge, of course. And told me if she did succeed she would like to keep James with her for a month; her obsession with James is disturbing, (Harry huffed) and me being an overly-attached father, panicked at the idea of being away from my son. Therefore, I took half a day to choose which difficult five spells to challenge her with. But it was impossible. She could easily do all those house spells and charms even without her wand!"

He took out a ninety-six pages thick handbook from one of James drawer and flipped over to page fifty-two where Sirius could see a picture of needle and thread moving around green silk cloth.

"Hermione was never good at knitting. She tried to knit us some sweater back in Hogwarts and she gave up midway 'cause it somehow always ended up coiling around her arms. So I challenged her to do some sewing, but, the finished product must be most satisfactory and usable, and other random four spells which I knew she would aced easily. And her face, her face was the perfect picture of 'I'm fucked' and that was the best moment in my entire life, ever!" Sirius laughed when his godson punched upwards victoriously into the air at his glorious moment.

"And? Did she manage?" Sirius felt so left out as he missed this big fun in the form of Miss Hermione Granger.

Harry looked triumphant. "Yeah, of course she managed! She even laced the quilt with her magic, that brilliant witch! That's why Jamesy calmed down just now after I bundled him up with the quilt, it has calming magic. But, it took her two days later from the deadline. So I won the bet and she didn't get to take my son away; thankfully. _And_ I won myself a free reign over her cooking-muggles-food talent for two months!"

"Then why don't we bring her to dinner with us?" Sirius rocked his body back and front to keep little James entertained while the adults talked.

"Nah. She wanted to stay at home tonight with her godson. She offered to look after James for us." Harry was done packing James essentials into a blue and white diaper bag.

"Everything's ready. I'm going to floo over her place and come back. You need to get ready now, old man." Harry eyed his godfather from head to toe as he took James from his hold. His left eyebrow rose.

"Sirius, what are you wearing?"

Sirius gave himself a look over and smacked his forehead with his right hand.

"I was stranded in this small cafe and the owner was a darling, she lent me these." He waved his hands from up to down. "Boxer included." He winked. This information pique the Chosen One's interest.

"I'll come back to that later over dinner! I need to drop this son of mine first. Get ready, Sirius! Now! You always take hours to fix your hair!"

Sirius didn't bother to reply as he heard the swooshing sound of their floo network.

He apparated himself back to his bedroom and took off his borrowed clothes. He ran his fingers over his hair and smiled as the smell of her vanilla shampoo filled his sense.

"I'll come back again. I promised her."

* * *

Leaky Cauldron has always been the perfect dinner spot for some boys night out. Their fish and chips were to die for. Sirius poured Harry a glassful of Ogden's finest Firewhiskey.

"To Prongslet Junior!" He toasted.

"To Sirius' new darling!" He spurted out his drink at Harry's toast.

"What darling?!" He hissed.

Harry took a big gulp of his firewhiskey before he answered him with a goofy smile, "the lady that you stranded with."

"Merlin, Harry. She was just being helpful. I walked into her cafe, I was dripping wetー"

"That's what she said." Harry couldn't let the opportunity to waste. Sirius threw one of his limped chips right on Harry's forehead.

"Smart arse. I was saying, I was dripping wet _from_ the rain and she was just being a kind-hearted lady, helped me and let me used her shower. No big deal." He shrugged and cut his fish fillet into small pieces.

"No big deal? Mate, that was the most contact you've had with a bird this past few months. The last touch you had before that, was holding Ginny's hand when she was in labour."

"Whatever. Stop playing cupid, Harry."

"I'm not playing cupid. I'm just a concern son who has been wondering how his father, the once heartbreaker of Hogwarts, could live this long without a single shag." Harry shook his head and his face went sombre as he took another sip of his drink. Sirius would have felt guilty if it wasn't for that obvious glint of mischief in his eyes, just like James.

"You fucker. I almost fell for that sad face. Just let it slide, son. I'm okay. I don't need a partner. I have enough on my plate. I have my job, aurors these days are very busy with paperworks. I have my son and his wife and their son living under the same roof with me, which is the best thing I could ever wish for. And finally, I have family, The Weasleys and The Potters are enough of a family to last me a lifetime." He put a slice of his fillet smeared with ketchup into his mouth.

"Don't you want to have your own family, Sirius? To have someone to be goofy with, someone who can make you feel young again, someone who will love your silliness, someone to be all idiotic with, someone you will do anything for just to hear their laughter and happiness. Don't you want to have that someone?"

Harry poured the next round for them. Sirius had stopped eating and stared at his now full glass of firewhiskey. "Of course I want to have that someone, Harry. But, I don't want to force it. If Fate wants it to happen, it will happen. I've been fighting against all odds as long as I can remember. And for once in my lifetime, I'll sit tight and watch as Fate plays out my life. Just enjoying the ride."

Harry held up his glass for a toast. "To Sirius Black. May he found love even in the darkest or smallest or slimiest place."

Sirius laughed and lifted his own glass and muttered "fuck off" to his godson.

"To Sirius!" Harry yelled.

"To love!" Sirius yelled back and the both bumped their glass together.

They went on and on talking about random stuff. The Marauders, Sirius' talent at curse breaking, Harry's big cases as the head of Aurors Department, until they reached Ginny's quidditch charity.

"That was brilliant, what your wife did. How come I never heard of it?" Sirius called for Tom, wanting to try their new molten pumpkin muffin dessert. Harry ordered himself a chocolate pudding.

"We just found out about it too."

"Just found out? But it was a tribute to her late brother, no?"

"Yeah. But none of us found out about its existence until last month, the same week Ginny went for the friendly match I told you about."

"Okay. If it wasn't a tribute from any of you, then who did it?" Sirius crossed his arms on the table.

"Hermione Granger." Harry replied nonchalantly. Sirius cocked one of his eyebrow up.

"Hermione Granger? Why?"

"Hermione and Fred had a history."

"As in..." Sirius trailed off.

"As in they were madly in love with each other."

"When?"

"The year she came to Hogwarts as Beauxbatons' champion for The Tri-wizard Tournament."

"Holy shit. She was the one who got yours and Diggory's arse out of Voldemort's grasp?!" He leant his body closer towards Harry. Harry gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well, when you put it like that, both Cedric and I seem like a pair of weaklings!"

"Compare to her? You both kind of were." He laughed when Harry kicked his shin under the table.

"Wasn't she the one who caught on Barty Jr.'s disguise too? What was it she said the reason was?"

ーーーーー

 _"It's hard to break a habit," Hermione whispered her realization. The three champions just came back from The Riddles graveyard, where they witnessed Voldemort's resurrection. Fleur and Madame Maxime escorted her to Beauxbatons' carriage while both Cedric and Harry stayed outside of the third task's maze, surrounded by Hogwarts professors and students. Her last view was Moody dragging Harry to the castle._

 _"What are you talking about?" Fleur whispered back. They speed walked to their carriage. Madame Maxime stressed over and over again how running was not posh for Beauxbatons._

 _"When we were at the graveyard, Voldemort told us he has one of his loyal death eater sent to spy on Harry, in Hogwarts."_

 _"Okay?"_

 _"I remembered when Harry and I fell in to one of Headmaster Dumbledore's memory, we saw Professor Moody during the hearing of death eaters. And he didn't lick his lips, not once!_ _And instead, we saw Crouch's son, he was one of the death eaters, couldn't stop licking his lips! Just like Hogwarts' Moody!"_

 _"Why do you remember if he licks his lips or not?" Fleur pulled Madame Maxime to stop as she had a feeling that Hermione knew something crucial. Hermione gave them a grateful smile._

 _"He was doing it a lot, it was hard to miss! Plus he was quite a catch." Madame Maxime guffawed._

 _" The point is, the one that I saw just now, the one who dragged Harry back to the castle, was not the real Moody!" She turned back towards the maze and started to run, followed by Fleur and their headmistress._

 _"Why didn't I notice it before! It was so obvious!"_

 _"Doesn't matter! Let's tell Headmaster Dumbledore first!" Fleur half-yelled at her friend's self-blame. To Madame Maxime horror, Fleur pulled up her skirt so she could run faster._

 _"This is not an appropriate way of a lady!" Fleur openly ignored her._

 _"Why can't we just apparate ourselves?! And no, Hermione! I didn't read Hogwarts: The history!" She added quickly when Hermione was about to ask her._

 _The trio made a beeline to where the professors were._

 _"Headmaster Dumbledore! Get Professor Moody! He's an imposter! A death eater!" Hermione yelled and quickly being answered with gasps._

 _"Are you sure, Miss Granger? That's a very bold accusation." Dumbledore stared straight into her eyes and Hermione willed herself to stared back. She knew what he was doing. Occlumency was something that she had been trying to master. She felt him shuffling her memories and she hastily put her reasoning upfront._

 _"Look at it, Headmaster." Dumbledore rose his eyebrows, amazed at her quick thinking._

 _"It seems so, Miss Granger. Minerva, Severus. Let's meet our old friend now." They were about to leave when Hermione stopped them._

 _"I'll go with you. I need to make sure Harry's okay." Her demanding eyes left them no room to argue. Dumbledore simply nodded._

ーーーーー

Sirius hummed as he recalled the memory. He remembered waiting for Harry inside of the Headmaster's office and caught a glimpse of blood-covered pale hand that was holding his godson's arm as a support, before Albus took Harry by his shoulder and sent her off to check on the real Moody. He remembered her unwavering voice as she spoke to Albus.

ーーーーー

 _"Headmaster Dumbledore, I reckon you only give Harry his calming draught after you're done interrogating him. Don't give it to him before as it will affect his emotions, hence, his story might lose any important details. Interrogate him while it is still fresh in his mind."_

 _"How about your explanation, Miss Granger?"_

 _"I will send you a vial of my memory right after I check on Mr. Moody."_

ーーーーー

He remembered being furious at her suggestion to not let Harry take his calming draught; which he later agreed was a smart move. He remembered the astonished face of Albus as she offered her memories easily just to back Harry's words up against the fool Fudge. He remembered the day Harry burst into his room with a letter written neatly in cursive in his hand and excitedly told him,

ーーーーー

 _"it's from Hermione! She's transferring to Hogwarts to help me! Just to help me!"_

ーーーーー

"Mate, you would be dead without her." Sirius stated after he said his thanks to Tom after he seved them their desserts.

"I know! But yeah back to our story. Fred. Merlin Fred! He was so whipped. Remember their creation? That Patented Daydream?"

"Yes?"

"He created it just so he could bear the loneliness he felt whenever Hermione back to Hogwarts." Harry closed his eyes and moaned as his chocolate pudding entered his mouth.

"Luna will love this," he said as he scooped more and continued talking with his mouth full.

"Hermione took her NEWT at Beauxbatons before she came to Hogwarts, and in Hermione Granger's fashion, she scored seven NEWTs easily." Sirius gaped.

"Even though she got herself that good of a score, she didn't pursuit her future plan. She, instead, pursuit mine. She stayed and became both Minerva's and Poppy's apprentice. She said it was just a cover story for if anyone was wondering what was the Beauxbatons' champion doing at Hogwarts. And of course, even if she said it was all an act, she still finished her apprenticeships with flying colours. She herself was surprised too." He cleared his throat and started to speak with a higher pitch voice as though he was Hermione.

"I spent most of my time snogging Fred in empty classroom! I have no idea how I managed when both of my hands were busy around Fred'sー" Sirius cleared his throat.

"She admitted that to us once and Ron couldn't look at Fred for almost a month after that image ingrained in his mind," Harry shook his mind. Clearly amused.

They hadn't talk about Fred since 1998. And talking about him now had lifted a burden that he didn't know was there, off his shoulder. He remembered everything clearly as if it was just yesterday when Fred realized he was madly in love with the France's champion. It was two weeks after The Tri-wizard Tournament's first task.

ーーーーー

 _"I think I'm in love!" Fred's voice boomed the packed Gryffindor's common room. Harry and Ron were sitting on the floor near the fireplace, stealing heat as December weather started to bite them. George and Lee were both doing their Charms homework, the one that clearly Fred had forgotten._

 _"If I didn't know you well I'd say I heard you yelled something about being in love," Angelina chimed as she walked in to the common room a step behind him. He turned to face the Gryffindor's chaser. His goofy grin cemented on his freckled face._

 _"You heard right, my dear Angelina. I, Frederick Gideon Weasley, is madly in love!" He boomed once again. George laughter filled the room._

 _"'Bout time, lover boy. Been telling you to wizard up and just admit it!"_

 _"With who?" Ron yelled from beside Harry._

 _"Why, Miss Granger of course!" The twins replied eerily at once. Harry could never get used to it._

 _"She's a Beauxbatons! You're fraternizing with the enemy!" Ron stood up and his face reddened with rage. Or was it jealousy? Harry wasn't sure. He suspected Ron was taken by the Beauxbatons' champion but he never had the time to ask._

 _Fred flashed them a bright toothy grin._

 _"Beauxbatons or not, I love her. She's it for me."_

ーーーーー

"She's something." Sirius stated to no one in particular.

"That she is. Did you know she was the one who charmed the basket that I used to packed food for you?"

"When I was hiding in the cave?"

"Yeah." Harry took another sip.

ーーーーー

 _"Monsieur Potter?"_

 _Harry turned around to find the petite French champion tilted her head a bit to the left, clearly amused as Harry worked his brain to find a reasonable explanation for him to magically came out of a painting of a bowl of fruit with two big easter baskets in his hands, in French._

 _"Miss Granger!" He said cheerfully. Too cheery. "I've forgotten my stuff in class so I took Ron's baskets with me and packed my parchments in it," He explained whilst his hands moving along with his words, trying to amend their language differences. Hermione grinned and nodded at his_ _poorly constructed excuse._

 _"I know a few charms that can help you deliver those delicious dinner easily." Harry's breath hitched._

 _"Yoー Howー I mean, I don't know what you're_ _talking about. Wait a minute, you speak English? And with English accent too?!" Hermione laughed and nodded again._

 _"I never said I don't. No Hogwarts students talk to me, well, except Frederick Weasley. I've been avoiding him actually. Keeping my 'I-don't-speak-english' act up but he never stop bugging me!" She crossed her arms on her torso in annoyance. Harry laughed and fixed his arms that were both coiled around each basket's handle._

 _"That's Fred for you. He asked you to Yule's Ball, no?"_

 _"He did. And I said no because Krum asked me first."_

 _"So you'd say yes?" Harry saw Hermione face flushed but he couldn't exactly tell as the corridor was poorly lit._

 _"Maybe," she bit her bottom lips. "But back to our conversation. Do you accept my offer?"_

 _"Listen, Miss Granger. I really am on my way to my roomー" she snorted._

 _"Let me do the charm for you. Wherever you're going, whoever you're going to send those food to, I don't want to know. I could only imagine how heavy it is to carry all those." Hermione took out her wand out of her right sleeve and pointed it towards the two heavy baskets._

 _"Just a simple feather light and extendable charm, Monsieur Potter. The receiver won't even need their wand to enjoy those delicious food. They just need at least one working limb to simply take out the food and eat. One basket could fit them all." She waved her wand and Harry felt them lightened instantly._

ーーーーー

"And all this time I was so proud of you for being smart to know how to use those charms," Sirius shook his head in mocked disappointment. Harry gave out a hearty laugh.

"Can't believe I owed her so much and yet we never met!" He called out Tom for another bottle of Ogden's.

"And both of you never met," Harry repeated Sirius' statement and nodded his agreement as he saw his godfather ordered another round. "Are we going to drink ourselves out tonight?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Not even close."

"Then yes. We will drink ourselves out." Tom came with their bottle and poured two glass for them before he left the duo and their bottle on their own.

"To Snuffle!" Harry lifted his glass.

"To survived off rats!" Sirius lifted his glass.

"What happened in Department of Mysteries? How did she got herself into that?"

"Well, it was more of a coincidence."

ーーーーー

 _"They what?!" Hermione just came from France and went to Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall straight away to send her apprenticeships' pleas at Hogwarts. She now stood right outside of Gryffindor's common room in hope to see Harry but only met by this Irish boy and his boyfriend._

 _"They left. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and the Ravenclaw girl. We heard them talked about something like his godfather and Department of Mysteries," The olive skin boyfriend replied._

 _"It could be a trap! Urgh those kids. Thank you, boys." She kissed both of the boys on their cheeks and fled out of Hogwarts to apparate._

ーーーーー

"When she arrived she found us already engaged in a fight. She was furious because she knew she was right, it was a trap." Harry sighed and rubbed his face with both hands.

"Iー I'm really sorry, Sirius. I shouldn't have gone. I shouldn't have trusted Kreacher. We all knew how he felt about you. I should have at least told Dumbledore." He crossed his arms on the table and buried his face in them. Sirius got up and took a seat beside him.

"Hey, come on now. I'm here. Miraculously I'm here. Solid and alive. See?" Sirius rested his left arm on Harry's slumped shoulder.

"Not only to you. I also still feel guilty towards Hermione. If it wasn't because of my stupid impulse, she wouldn't have been attacked. I saw the scar, Sirius. It was full of hatred and killing intent." Sirius ruffled his already messy hair.

"Yeah but she forgave you, right? And she's, like me, is solid and alive too. So stop beating yourself down! We've had enough of brooding Harry in our lifetime! At least give Hermione a break!" Harry laughed and lifted his face up.

"Yes yes, no more brooding Harry." He leant back on his seat as Sirius did too, his arm still rested on Harry's shoulder.

"I really feel sorry for Hermione. She could have a life without all these fucked up war and just become whatever it was she wanted back in France. But instead, she jumped right into it and became one of the most important person that brought Voldermort down. Sirius, after the great battle of Hogwarts, she... she has changed." Harry screwed his eyes as scenes of the war came rushing back into his mind. He could see it all, he could smell the blood and fires, he could taste his salty sweat and the copper tasted red fluid, he could feel his fear and anger, and he could hear Hermione's scream, her scream that had haunted him for years.

ーーーーー

 _"Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"_

 _"You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee._

 _"You actually are joking, Perce! I don't think I've heard you joke since you were –"_

 _The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart, Harry felt himself flying through the air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only weapon, and shield his head in his arms. He heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them._

 _And then the world resolved itself into pain and semi darkness. He was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack. Cold air told him that the side of the castle had been blown away, and hot stickiness on his cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that expressed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse could cause, and he stood up, swaying, more frightened than he had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than he had been in his life._

 _And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three redheaded men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood._

 _"No – no – no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"_

 _And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face._

 _Harry turned his head slowly to Hermione. And what he saw just broke his heart._

 _Their Hermione, their strong, smart, brilliant Hermione, stood still, unmoving, staring down at her lover's dead body with no emotions on her face, except for the tears that was streaming down her cheeks at speed._

 _"Hermione," Harry called for her gently, as if a simple hitch in his voice could break her, and yet, Hermione still stood straight, unblinking. Harry willed himself and shook her body._

 _"Hermione. Say something. Hermione!" To no avail. Not until Ron got up and slapped her on her right cheek. Her cheek reddened as soon as his hand left it._

 _"Pull yourself together! Cry for him! Cry for your lover! Cry for your sanity!" He dragged her to Fred's body and pushed her down on him. That was when Hermione broke down. She was wailing, howling, screaming on top of her lungs for her Fred to come back, to tell her all these were just one of his sick jokes, to fulfil his promises of tomorrow, to just look at her with his beautiful blue eyes again._

ーーーーー

"She left to France two days after, right after she stayed a night at Hogwarts one last time. And she didn't come back for almost four years. The only person that she kept contact with was George."

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes with his thumb and index finger. Their drinks were forgotten.

Sirius never liked it when they speak of war. He wasn't there. He felt useless. He could have saved Fred, he could have saved Remus and Tonks, he could have saved a lot of people. But instead, he was castaway in another realm. He breathed out a heavy breath. This was one depressing dinner.

"Who knew talking about Hermione got us mopping like some kids whom candies got stolen," said Harry as he stretched his arms up.

Sirius chuckled and took a swig of his firewhiskey. "No woman no cry."

"Yeah. Which is why, I'm leaving." Harry got up and called up for Tom to ask for bills.

"If you're leaving then I'm leaving too." Sirius too got up only to be pushed down back to his seat by Harry.

"Uhh no you don't. There's a woman walking to our table now to meet you." Harry jerked his head to their left side and there she was, a young woman, mid 20's he assumed, around Harry's age, sauntered towards them. She was pretty, he admitted. She had mesmerizing black eyes, long black hair, and pale skin. Her body was fit too, long legs and curves at all the right places. She didn't seem shy to flaunt them. She was wearing red tight short dress, it was long sleeved but damn it was short. He concluded, she was hot.

"Sirius, this is Cho Chang. She's a friend of mine and now working as one of the accountants at Gringotts."

Sirius stretched out his right hand and as she took his hand, he brought hers to his lips and kissed her knuckles. She blushed furiously.

"Good evening, Miss Chang. I'm afraid my godson here didn't tell me earlier that you'd be joining us. If I'd known, I would have wear something presentable than these."

Cho eyed him from head to toes. He was only wearing a simple buttoned up dark blue shirt tucked in his brown slim fit khakis and black oxford boots. He was stunning. Cho could only imagine how much more handsome he would look like with his presentable clothes.

"Cho is fine. It's alright, Mr. Black. I would like to be your new company since Harry is obviously leaving?" She winked at Harry. Sirius grinned and rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand that was still in his hold.

"Yes. Thank you, Cho. Sirius here been stuck with his work since forever. He just need to drink himself out for one night and let loose all the tensions." Harry pat his godfather's back.

"I'm leaving him in your care, if you don't mind. It's late and I hate to be away from James later than this." Cho chuckled and kissed him on both his cheeks.

"Of course. Now go back to your boy. I'll drink with him if he will have me, that is."

"The pleasure is all mine." Sirius pulled out a chair and called out for Tom again to order a new round.

"Harry." He hugged Harry and took that chance to whisper.

"You shitty son of mine. What the fuck, mate?! I told you I don't want to see anyone! Yet!"

"You both look good together! Just try to know her and enjoy yourself. She could be your 'somenone'!"

Sirius grunted and let go of his godson. They said their goodbyes and he took his seat right across of Cho.

 _Well, let's Fate plays out._

* * *

He walked in to his Number Twelve of Grimmauld Place quietly, as it was now 11:54 at night and he was worried if he woken up Harry and James. He was five steps up to his room when he heard Harry's voice near their fireplace. He climbed down to hear better.

"Thank you, 'Mione. You know how much I love you, right?"

"You are too much, Harry James Potter. I told you I could even keep James for a month if you let me!"

"Never!"

Sirius heard Hermione's muffled laughter and couldn't stop his smile at the sound. After everything that he found out from Harry tonight, he was just glad that she was ballsy enough to pulled herself out of her sorrow. She deserved happiness.

"Anyway, I'm going to sleep. I'm seeing Terry tomorrow. Need to ask his opinion on my business."

"Yeah you do that. I'm going to bed myself too. Ginny's coming home tomorrow. She said to tell you she's coming to help you next week." Harry yawned.

"Noted. Now go, Harry. Send my kisses to James! Love you!" The floo network disconnected.

Harry replied his love to green ashes and made his way to the stairs where he found a weary looking Sirius leaned his back on the wall right at the base of the steps. He stole a look at his watch, one minute after midnight, and sighed.

"Why are you home, Sirius?" He crossed his arms. Sirius yawned and shook his head at his godson.

"She's not that someone, Harry," said Sirius.

Harry sighed tiredly. _Next time I'll ask Ginny for help_ , he thought.

"How do you know she isn't? You've only spent less than two hours with her." He sat on the stairs, both his elbows parked on two steps above his seat, his legs stretched out and hit Sirius' ankles.

Sirius kicked one of his leg. "I don't feel it."

"Feel what? Feel her?" Harry looked at him with a saucy smile. Sirius kicked his leg again, this time a little bit harder that made Harry yelped.

"I wish it was that easy." Sirius closed his eyes and remembered how Cho's breasts looked like squeezed in the tight red dress, and yet, it didn't give him that desire he looked for.

"Physically, yes. She was fucking hot. Did you see her arse? Fuck that thing should be illegal." Harry nodded and closed his eyes, picturing his old flame in the red tight dress.

"But," Sirius continued.

"I didn't feel it. I didn't feel the flutters, didn't feel the giddiness, didn't feel flushes, I didn't feel what James felt whenever he sees Lily. I want that, Harry." He tilted his head up, now staring at the dark ceiling with his back still leaned on the wall.

"I'm 38 years old, son. I spent most of my youth in Azkaban. I saw my happiness teared off from me by those damn dementors. I saw them, Harry. I saw my fond memories. They played like some movies in muggle cinema, continuosly. And my happiness revolved around your dad's happiness. Of him with us, of him playing quidditch, of him seeing Lily, of him on his first date with Lily, of him proposing to Lily, of him gotten married to Lily, of him when he found out Lily was pregnant with you, of him holding you for the first time, of him celebrating your first birthday ever, of him having a family with Lily." Sirius nudged Harry to the left and sat right beside him. His elbows were on his knees and his head hung between them.

"I want to have all those happiness again. But this time, I want it to be of me and my partner. I know I've said I'll let Fate plays out my life but if I were ever found that someone, someone to be goofy with, someone who can make me feel young again, someone who will love my silliness, someone to be all idiotic with, someone I will do anything for just to hear their laughter and happiness, someone like Lily to James, someone like Ginny to you, I swear to Merlin I'll fight Fate all over again until I get her. " His laughter was humourless.

"But I haven't found that someone. So I let Fate do its job. And so far its doing a pretty shitty job. Not once I felt it, Harry. I don't want to waste my time, to waste their time, on something like one night stand." He clapped Harry's knee and got up. Harry gotten up himself and followed as Sirius climbed up the stairs.

"Too old for playing around."

"You're not even 40 for fucks sake. Stop talking like you're 140 years old. Even the muggle from Number Ten has different birds every now and then and he's 63."

"Stop spying on our neighbours, Harry. That's sick." Harry muttered "fuck you." As his reply.

"By the way, what happened to my mother?"

"Merlin, Sirius! It's been weeks and you just noticed today?"

"Well you might didn't notice this but I hate my beloved mother more than anything so I rarely paid attention of her well-being."

Harry rolled his eyes and tugged Sirius shirt towards where the portrait of Walburga Black should have been.

"We broke down the wall and builtー I mean, conjured a new wall."

Sirius eyes bulged as he saw a moving picture of Harry and Ron in their Aurors' robes on the wall where his mother portrait was. His mouth gaped as if he wanted to say something and Harry found it very entertaining.

"You're welcome." He pushed his godfather's dropped jaw up.

"How?" Stuttered Sirius.

"Hermione," said Harry with a shrug.

Harry's answer was simple and yet explained itself. Of course she had to do something brilliant like this. Sirius guffawed at the fact that her mother now offically gone from his life. He ruffled Harry's toussled hair and let out another round of a loud barking laugh when he saw Harry tried to flatten his wild raven hair.

"Finally. Finally I'm free!" he chanted.

He flicked his wand and summoned a parchment and quill. He spun Harry's body and wrote on the parchment with Harry's back served as his table.

"Here, send this to our lovely Miss Granger." He then conjured a rose, to be specific, a gentle hermione rose, and tied it together with the now rolled parchement.

Harry cocked an eyebrow up. "What is this?"

"A thank you note." Sirius patted his godson's back and stretched his hands up as he yawned.

"Alright alright. Go to sleep now. You hadn't had a proper sleep for almost two weeks. I know because I was the one who gave you your mission, remember? Head auror?" Harry pointed his index finger to himself.

"Promise you send that to her first thing in the morning?"

"I promise."

Sirius nodded, satisfied with the promise he knew Harry would keep, and dragged his booted feet to his bedroom.

"Night, son," yelled Sirius to Harry from his door.

"Goodnight, Sirius." Harry went two floors down to his and Ginny's room, right beside of James' nursery room, and pondered why the hell did he tire himself by walking his godfather to the master bedroom which was way up on the fourth floor.


	3. Tea

**A/N: The last part of their story.**

 **Tea**

"Hermione!"

Hermione groaned from her bed and yelled, "how many times do I have to tell you, Ronald! You are keyed-in to all of my security measures! Muggles and magics! Door locks and wards! You just have to apparate in or floo in or just simply turn the doorknob around!"

All she heard was quiet and then loud thumps on her creaking stairs. She continued reading her book while waiting for Ron to reach _in three, two, one._ Her bedroom door swung open.

"Am I invited? Or is it just Ronald?"

She was startle to hear a woman voice instead of the whiny deep voice of her brother. She looked up.

"Gin!" Hermione quickly put down her book and jumped off her bed and ran to her friend. "You promised me to come last night."

"I'm sorry. But Harry wouldn't let me go. It had something to do with how ravishing I was that he wanted to shag me right on the dining table," she smiled wickedly.

"Ew Ginny! That's my brother!" Hermione pushed Ginny away and climbed down the stair to serve a drink or two for her guests. She heard Ginny's chuckles right behind her. "And dining table? I bought you that dining table! Exclusively customized from Paris!" she stood behind her bar and took out two highball glass, "and you hated that table!"

"It is very sturdy, Hermione. Remind me to trust your judgement next time," Ginny hugged her from behind, "what are we having today?"

"Mocktails?" Hermione lifted one glass to Ginny's eye-level over her shoulder.

"Can we have tea, please? I feel like it's a tea kind of night." She let go of her and let Hermione start preparing their tea. She took a seat on one of the stool.

Hermione cringed.

"Uh, Gin? Can you sit on the next stool?"

"Why? What's wrong with this one?" Ginny looked confused but still she moved to the one on her right.

"Well, that's kinda his favourite seat," Hermione said. She was trying so hard to appear unperturbed while taking out her antique china tea set but her treacherous face gave her away. It was redder than Ginny's hair.

"Fucking hell, Granger. You're all smitten!" Ginny exclaimed.

"No!" Hermione denied vehemently. But Ginny's wiggling eyebrows ebbed her denial bit by bit.

"Maybe?" She answered this time weakly.

Ginny squealed and leant forward against the bar.

"You are! Hermione is in love!"

"Who's in love?" Ron came out from her kitchen. He helped himself with a plate of spaghetti. "It's in the fridge. I reheated it with that mic wave thing."

"Microwave." Hermione rolled her eyes. She took out one more tea cup for Ron.

"So who's in love?" he asked again and before Ginny could answer, Hermione wandlessly sent her handkerchief and stuffed it in Ginny's mouth.

"Crookshanks," Hermione replied as she poured a freshly boiled water into the teapot, "I think he's in love with one of the stray cat from the park. He's been mewling a lot these days, and pee a lot too. I read from a bookー" Ron rolled his eyes "ーthat if a male cat wants to mate, he'll start peeing everywhere. It's like marking and telling all the female cats that there's a horny male cat here."

Ginny spat out the white handkerchief from her mouth. She gave Hermione a deadly glare. "What are you eating, Ron?"

"Spaghetti. You're hungry? Already?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Why? I thought Ginny likes spaghetti?" Hermione asked.

"She just ate before we flood to your place! She ate two roasted duck and a pile of waffles as dessert!" Ron shook his head and swatted Ginny's hand off of his fork. "Go get one yourself!"

"Ginny?" Hermione waiting for her friend explanation.

"I…" she bolted off from her seat and ran upstairs.

Both Hermione and Ron could hear the clicked sound of her locking door.

"Mental," Ron said as he took a sip of his tea. "That's why I brought her here with me, actually."

"Why? What's going on?" Hermione took a seat beside him.

"She's been acting strange. Harry owled me earlier and asked me to ask mum if Ginny has confided anything to her because she seems... distant," another sip and this time Hermione joined him, "and Harry said she was happy this morning, so he has no idea what happened during the two hours he left her for work."

"Did you ask Mr. Black?"

"Sirius wasn't home, too. So it was just Ginny and James." Ron paused his story as they heard a blaring sound of Led Zeppelin's song from upstairs.

"She must have figured out how to turn on the radio, I guess," Hermione shrugged, "back to the story."

"What was that noise?" Ron's face contoured while focusing his hearing on the slow strumming of Stairway To Heaven. "It's pretty good!"

"It's Led Zeppelin, of course it's good! I'll make you a copy of it later."

"Can you put it in my square music's store? The one that you gave me last Christmas?"

"iPod, Ron. iPod!" Hermione chuckled. She and Harry always had a good laugh whenever Ron described some muggle things to them. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thanks, 'Mione. You're the greatest," he looked at Hermione in amazement.

"Always the tone of surprise," Hermione winked and they both laughed as it reminded them of their time in Hogwarts.

"You miss him," Ron said softly.

Hermione inhaled softly. A sad smile etched on her face. "Like mad."

"Mum misses you."

"I'm not ready." Hermione got up to refill her cup. Ron shoved his cup towards her, silently telling her he wanted a refill, too. "It's so… him, you know? The Burrow, I mean."

Ron fiddled the small teaspoon, "see? Having an emotional range of a teaspoon isn't so bad. Look at you! Bloody depressing!"

"Ha-ha," Hermione poured him tea and sighed, "am I doing this wrong? Should I just forget him?"

"You're not forgetting him. You're just... _acknowledging_ his death. And there's nothing wrong with that. But hey, you want to be all depressed and pull a 'Brooding Harry'? Go on. There's nothing wrong with that too," Ron added two cubes of sugars in his tea, "it just, boring, and bloody depressing. I don't think he likes boring very much, yes? So you being in this state is like an insult to him."

Hermione mulled over his words and she be damned. What Ron had said made more sense than anyone had ever said to her. _This tactless boy had really done it._

"Okay," she said after a moment of silence.

"Okay what?" Ron asked, clearly confused.

"I'll come to Molly's Sunday lunch," she gave him a comforting smile and Ron beamed proudly at her.

"That's the Hermione Granger I know. Welcome back, Miss Tri-Wizard Champion who fought off Voldemort!" He hugged her from the side.

Hermione laughed. They continued talking more about Hogwarts days until Ginny finally joined them.

"Done being moody?" Hermione asked her little sister jokingly.

"It's boring to be moody alone," Ginny said as she made her way to the kitchen. She came back with a reheated spaghetti and looked at Ron, "Sirius coming back tonight?"

"No thanks to you," said Ron.

"Why is it?" Hermione chimed in.

"It wasn't my fault! It was Cho." Ginny defended herself.

"Yeah? How did Cho get in then?" Ron smiled smugly at her.

"Well, she was a seeker. Maybe she climbed up the window or just, you know, flew on her broom," Ginny answered with her mouth full. Hermione wiped some bolognese sauce off her chin. "And Sirius is an adult, Ron. So is Cho. So what if they had sex?"

"Right. They _had_ sex. Is that why Cho left the house in fury after less than fifteen minutes and sent Harry and I a patronus each, saying, " _He's an arse!"_?"

"She did?!"

"Seemed like a bad night."

"Maybe Sirius isn't as good in sack as everyone claimed he is."

"Okay, that's enough of sex talk! Please respect my tea. Don't drink them with your dirty mouths!" Hermione looked at them pointedly, challenging them to argue.

"Sorry, 'Mione," Ron said, not looking sorry at all, "it's hard not having him around. Ginny been forcing Harry to feed Buckbeak and Harry would force me to do it with him!"

"Buckbeak?" Hermione cocked her head slightly to the side, "Oh! The one from your time-turner fiasco?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Ron flared his nostrils with pride. Ginny groaned.

"Can't believe you left me out of all the fun!" Ginny sulked.

"Aw, Gin. You were little! And yes, 'Mione. It was that time when Sirius first met Buckbeak."

ーーーーー

 _"We're gonna use the time-turner that you found from Professor McGonagall's office?!" Neville asked them with his horrified face. This whole idea is messy, he thought._

 _"Let me repeat this plan again, we use the time-turner to go back to 7:30 a.m. so we can save Buckbeak and Sirius Black?" He asked Harry. Ron was on his side, holding his shoulder to calm him and it obviously didn't work._

 _"No, Neville. We're going to use the time-turner. You stay here, in Hospital's Wing. You've hurt your leg and I don't want to hurt you more," Harry answered him. "We'll be safe, I promise."_

 _"No you won't," Neville shook his head, "I wish we can have someone intelligent in our small group, you know, to watch over us."_

 _"You and me both, brother." Ron slapped Neville's back before he got up and stood beside Harry. "Let's do this. How many times do we have to turn this thing again?"_

 _"I heard Professor McGonagall said one turn equal to five hours. So that meansー" Harry counted with his fingers, "ーthree turns?"_

 _Ron pulled the Time-Turner chain around their neck and gave Harry a nod, "go on, then."_

 _Harry turned it three times and the last thing Neville saw was a wisp of golden light. His jaw dropped until less than a minute after that, two happy boys came in from the Hospital's Wing front door._

 _"Whaー"_

 _"We did it, Nev! We saved Buckbeak and set Sirius free, we rode Buckbeak!" Harry yelled jovially._

 _ーーーーー_

"You guys could have been killed! Or worse, expelled!" Shrieked Hermione. She loved Ron, Harry and Neville, she really did. But they were really stupid. Brave, but stupid.

"And you didn't invite me!" Ginny complained to Ron.

Hermione turned her head towards Ginny in less than a second. "Gin! That was dangerous!"

"But fun," goaded Ron. He pushed his cup towards Hermione, "more tea, please."

Hermione groaned and started boiling another kettle of water. "So, be honest with me, Ronald. Was he the one that you and Harry had been sending food to?"

"Uh... Yeah. But, Harry told me you helped him." Ron smirked.

"Yes. And I'm glad I did. Imagine you two teen boys carried two heavy baskets."

"Hey! We were built, okay?" Ron's protest only met with two snorts.

"You were thin, Ronniekins. Just a breeze of wind could easily blow you off!" Ginny snickered.

Ron shot a cube of sugar and it hit Ginny right on her forehead. She yelped and threw back one to Ron. Before the siblings could start their siblings' war, Hermione quickly took the small jar of her victimised sugar cubes off of the bar top and gave both kids a very stern look. Both Ron and Ginny muttered their sorry.

"Now," Hermione refilled her teapot with a new batch of boiled water and tea, "since we're talking about Mr. black, can someone please explain to me how did he made it out of The Veil?"

"Harry never told you?" Ron asked, clearly astonished to know Harry hadn't tell their best friend this important event.

"Never," she answered.

"Well, it was two years ago, some time in June 2002. You were still in France when it happened," Ginny started instead.

 _ーーーーー_

 _"Harry!" Ginny yelled to his husband from their dining room, "don't forget your lunch!"_

 _Harry ran down the stairs with his hair still as messy as ever and his Auror's robe clutched under his left armpit. "You're an angel, Gin." He kissed his wife's cheek while Ginny packing his lunch box into a small paper bag and passed it to Harry._

 _"I have late practise today. We're choosing new beaters for next week match. Can't skip this one." Ginny gave Harry a big hug and both of them made their way to their fireplace in the study room. "Don't wait for me, alright? I'll owl you if there's any change of plan." She pecked him on his lips and before she could step into the fireplace, a burst of green flame blazed the grate._

 _"Harry." A thick voice of their new Minister of Magic filled the quiet study room._

 _"Kingsley," replied Harry._

 _"Make your way to the Ministry, now. There's something going on in the Department of Mysteries," Kingsley couldn't hide his panicked voice, "the Death Chamber."_

 _Every words left Harry's mouth as an old memory suddenly brought to the front of his mind. A memory of his Godfather's death, of Sirius Black._

 _"What are you saying, Kings?" His voice was shaky and Kingsley couldn't blame him as he was also taken aback by this unexpected event._

 _"Get yourself here now." Kingsley's head disappeared from the grate, leaving Harry standing there with daze and confusion written all over his paled face. Ginny slid her hand into his and gave it a supportive squeeze. Harry turned his head to his wife._

 _"What do I do, Gin?" he sounded like the lost child he was right after Sirius' death. Ginny quickly pulled him closer and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into her warm embrace. Harry hugged her back and Ginny could feel his quickened heartbeat._

 _"Let's go to the Ministry, Harry," said Ginny softly._

 _"Your practice?" Harry asked weakly and Ginny chuckled because it was obvious in his small voice that he needed Ginny more than anything._

 _"You come first, you dolt." She kissed him fully on his lips. "Now, get your arse to where Kingsley want you to be."_

 _"I'd rather it be on top of you though," Harry winked at his wife and stepped into their fireplace. His tension ebbed a little after Ginny offered herself to come with him. "I'll wait for you on the other side, love. Ministry of Magic!"_

 _Ginny followed right after him._

 _The first thing she saw when she stepped out of the Ministry's floo network was chaos. Aurors and Unspeakables swarmed Harry and Kingsley, and she could barely make out what they said._

 _"It's impossible!" Harry yelled. He found Ginny's eyes and nodded his head, asking Ginny to stand beside him._

 _"What's going on?" Ginny asked him._

 _"Bullshit. That's what's going on," Harry spat, "this isn't funny, Kingsley. Take your words back."_

 _Kingsley rubbed his face, frustrated with Harry's behaviour. "I didn't believe it myself too, until I saw him. He's real, Harry. In flesh. Solid. Breathing."_

 _"Who?" Ginny couldn't hide her curiosity._

 _"Sirius Black," Kingsley answered her._

 _"Shut your mouth, Kingsley. For the sake of our friendship!" Harry warned him._

 _"Look," Kingsley said in his authoritative voice, "Just come with me and see it for yourself before you sprout unnecessary insults at your Minister."_

 _Harry scowled and walked past him, bumping his shoulder on purpose. Kingsley sighed and as the gentleman he was, he offered his hand to Ginny. Ginny accepted it and they both walked a step behind Harry._

 _"Don't mind him, Kings. You know how tetchy he gets when it comes to Sirius," Ginny squeezed his arm reassuringly._

 _"I understand, Gin. but disobeying my order in front of others? Not good for my position. "For the sake of our friendship,"" Kingsley mimicked Harry's voice, "What a way to tell everyone I favour him!"_

 _Ginny snorted, holding her laugh. She understood how hard it was for Kingsley to treat his friends as mere Ministry's officers and gave them orders. But he needed to show people his credibility._

 _"It's brooding Harry all over again!" he added._

 _This time Ginny couldn't hold her laughter and she quickly covered it with an exaggerated fake cough as Harry turned to them questioningly. Kingsley gave him a stony look._

 _"Walk faster, Auror Potter," he said._

 _Harry rolled his eyes and quickened his step. They finally reached Unspeakable Office._

 _"Unspeakable Bode," Kingsley called to one of the hooded men._

 _"Minister," Bode bowed his head as a greeting then turned to Harry, "Auror Potter."_

 _Harry nodded his head. Ginny noticed her husband's eyes scanned around the room, looking for the man that had caused this uproar early in the morning. His eyes settled on the back of a long-haired man, laying on one of the sofa with his body rose up and down evenly, a sign that he was breathing, he was alive. Harry tentatively walked towards him._

 _"Sirius?" He stammered._

 _Ginny's breath hitched, watching the man slowly turned his body and there he was._

 _Sirius Black._

 _"Sirius." Harry halted, tears started to pool in his eyes, still in disbelief. "Is that really you?"_

 _The man sat up upon seeing Harry's shocked face. He rubbed his eyes, as if what he was seeing was another imagination, a sick game of his mind._

 _"Harry," he finally spoke._

 _Ginny's eyes caught Harry's tears, rolling down at a speed, not caring of his position as the Head of Department, as the Boy Who Lived, as the Chosen One, he didn't seemed to care. Now, Ginny saw him as a boy who just found his father after six years of trying to fill the hollow in his heart._

 _"Sirius!" Harry hugged his Godfather. "Merlin, it's really you!" He laughed joyously when Sirius complained on how tight his hug was._

 _"Look at you! All grown!" Sirius cupped Harry's face, turning it left and right._

 _"And you still look the same!" Harry tightened his hug more. "How?"_

 _"We still can't figure out the reasoning behind this event. Last night, the arc was acting weird, vibrating, and it let out this ear-piercing loud buzzing sound that we had to muffled the Death Chamber." Bode answered as he passed Harry the result of Sirius' check up._

 _Harry was grateful to see his normal state of mind. "And then, he just came out?"_

 _"Yes." Bode turned to Kingsley. " I believe you can handle it from here, Minister?"_

 _"Of course. Thank you, Unspeakable Bode. do notify me if you find any leads of The Veil's substance."_

 _"Certainly," Bode answered and curtly nodded his head._

 _"Harry, love, come. Let's take Sirius home and start celebrating this miracle!" Ginny said, hugging Sirius. "It's good to see you again, Sirius."_

 _"It's good to be home." Sirius said._

 _ーーーーー_

Ginny finished her tea. "And that's how we got Sirius back! Miracle!"

"The Wizard Who Cheated Death," Ron added.

"Miracle," Hermione whispered, "June 2002."

Hermione's hold on her tea cup loosened, it fell on her feet.

"Merlin's balls! Hermione!" Ron took out his wand and glued the shattered cup back together. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes," Hermione took out her phone and noted it was 9:14 p.m.. "Yーyeah. I'm good. Hey, Ron, Gin, I just remembered I have a date with Anthony," she informed them as she put on her black heels ankle boots and walked towards the door. "Just turn off the lights when you leave! Bye!"

 **ー**

Hermione sat in the corner, where the quiet table was. She took a big sip of her hot tea when Anthony took a seat across from her.

"You alright? What's with the panic voice from the phone?" Anthony lifted up his hand, calling the waitress to take his order.

Hermione took another sip before she started speaking. "June 2002."

Anthony nodded and urged her to continue.

"Remember?" She asked.

"How can I not?"

"Funny story. Ginny and Ron came to my place andー"

"Never a dull moment with the lots."

"ーthey told me Sirius Black was brought back in June 2002."

Their table went quiet. Only the clanking sound of glasses and silverwares around them could be heard.

"You can't be sure ifー"

"How can I not?" Hermione said it back to him.

Anthony rubbed the back of his neck as he heaved a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes and said, "so?"

"It worked."

Hermioneー"

"No, Anthony. It worked! I did it! I brought back someone!"

"Don't."

It was quiet again. Anthony's order came and he left it untouched until Hermione spoke again.

"I want him back."

"Hey," Anthony leant against their table and took her hand.

She squeezed his as though she was afraid he would leave her alone in her despair. "I want him back," she repeated shakily, she was on the verge of crying.

He took her hand and kissed it long enough to calm her nerve. "You can't bring him back."

Hermione tried to pull her hand back but Anthony tightened his hold.

"We did research. We know you can't bring him back."

"Then explain Sirius Black!"

"He was in the between."

"What do you mean?"

Anthony let go of her hand and asked for a pen from the waitress, who, Hermione noticed, had been studying Anthony in full interest.

"She's into you," Hermione said after the waitress left their table.

"Tough luck. I love being filled," he answered nonchalantly and snickered when he heard Hermione's grunt. "You know it."

"Well, yeah. But you don't have to be so crass!"

He laughed as he spread his napkin on the table. Dinner forgotten.

"This is the living world," he drew a circle on it, "and this is the dead world," he drew another circle right beside the first, overlapping each other less than a quarter, creating a small oval in between the two, "and thisー" he pointed the oval "ーis where Sirius Black was. In between the two world."

"Your point?"

"My point? You're smart, luv. You've figured this out, haven't you? You're just being ignorant."

Hermione got up at a speed, their table shook. "I'm going to bring him back," she said resolutely before she turned to leave.

"You'll bring back another person from in between instead! You know that!" He yelled at her retreating back.

 **ー**

It was 11:32 p.m. and she was sitting in one of the bench in the park near her cottage. She was facing the still water of the man-made lake. Quaint.

"I'll bring you back, Frederick," she whispered. Her eyes closed as she remembering what she did on June 2002.

 _ーーーーー_

 _Hermione was sitting cross-legged at the centre of the small cottage. She was finishing runic inscriptions on the floor. Candles were lit around it and a bowl of chicken blood was placed at the centre of it._

 _"Life as it was," she muttered the last line she wrote. She stood up and moved to stand outside of the circle. One hand holding her wand while the other holding an ancient thick leather book, 'The Beauty of Dark Arts' was written in cursive on its cover._

 _"It shall breathe live into the closest to your heart." She read the book, "read the incantation under the brightest night of the sixth month from the twelve."_

 _Hermione peered outside the glass wall, the bright full moon lit the darkness of the cottage. She cleared her throat before she read the incantation._

 _"Oh, Death._

 _Surrender a breath._

 _For I, Living,_

 _Require him breathing._

 _Oh, Death._

 _Surrender a breath._

 _For he, Dead,_

 _Has need for his breath._

 _Oh, Dead._

 _Accept the given breath._

 _For I, Living,_

 _Require you breathing."_

 _A bright light sparked out of the bowl, splattering the blood all over the runic circle. The bloodied words hovered in the air in circle until they dispersed into thin air. Then it was quiet again._

 _Hermione flopped down. She was staring to the empty bowl and waited for half an hour before she laughed hysterically._

 _Anthony found her laying in fetal-like position at the centre of the circle, cradling an empty bowl. He came after his forty-four calls has been ignored._

 _"Merlin have mercy," he said as he lifted Hermione up to his lap. "What have you done, Hermione?"_

 _"I want him back."_

 _"Is he back?"_

 _"No."_

 _Anthony hugged her closer and whispered sweet nothing to her until she fell asleep._

 _Unbeknown to them, Sirius Black emerged out from The Veil, breathing and real._

 _ーーーーー_

She opened her eyes and exhaled. Her mind already whirling, recalling all the steps and ingredients needed for the same ritual.

"This time I'll have you back, Fred," she said to no one and stood up, carrying her feet back to her cottage.

 **ー**

She could hear the blaring sound of Spice Girls' Wannabe, a tell tale that Anthony was already there, waiting for her.

"Goldstein," she said as she swung the red door open.

Anthony smiled at her from behind the bar. "If it isn't my lovely Hermione. The Brightest Witch of Her Age, that she could even bring back the deadsー sorry, the In Betweeners back."

Hermione sat on the countertop and hugged him, loving the warmth that her friend gave her. "I'm going to do it again."

"I know."

"I'm going to do it over and over again until I get him back."

"I know."

"I want him."

"I know."

"I miss him."

"I know."

"I love him."

Anthony didn't reply. He was still hugging her and she tightened her hug, dreading at his lack of words.

"If you love him," his voice muffled by her thick hair, "you won't do this."

Hermione pushed him away. She looked at him angrily. "I thought you'd understand."

"I doー"

"No you don't! I love him, Anthony! I love him with all my heart! I tried to bring him back and I moved on when it didn't work, or I thought it didn't. And you expect me to sit tight when I successfully brought Sirius Black back?!"

Her hair was crackling in red. Her eyes were wide and her lips were trembling in anger and frustration.

"Don't you see it? I can have him back!"

"Fred was not the only one who died!"

That effectively silenced her up. Her angry eyes slowly drooped like a lost kitten.

"I'm sorry that you lost him, luv. i really am! But he was not the only person who died. You didn't even plan to save Sirius Black! Now think! What if you brought back a fucking Death Eater? Bellatrix? Or Voldemort himself?!"

"I… I don'tー"

"I know you don't mean that to happen. But, _what if?_ The spell doesn't even require you to say a specific name! Just " _the closest to your heart._ " It could be anyone!"

Anthony tucked her wild locks behind her ears. He cupped her face so he could look straight to her brown eyes. She had tears rolling on both of her cheeks.

"Hermione," he kissed her eyes, "you were lucky it was Black who you brought back. I don't know him personally, don't even remember how he looks like, but," he kissed her cheeks, "shouldn't you be happy that Harry is happy again?"

Hermione let out a ragged breath. It was true. Harry was a lot happier these past two years, after he got his Godfather back. After everything the boy has been through, Hermione glad that she was the one who brought his happiness back.

"Yeah," she said finally and she hugged him. "Thank you, Anthony. For not giving up on me."

"Anything for you."

"Dinner?" She asked as she jumped off the counter.

"Yes please! I left the restaurant right after you! Didn't even touch my food!" He whined and made his way to the kitchen.

Hermione stopped him and jerked her head towards the front door. "Tonight, we'll dine like kings! Come on, Goldstein! Let's try that fancy Italian restaurant, just three blocks from here!"

She dragged him and vanished the teas from her previous guests.

"I've had enough of tea for tonight. We need wine!"

"Now we're talking!" Anthony wrapped his hand around her shoulder, closing the gap between them. "Apparate?"

He disapparated before Hermione could even answer. She shook her head and took out a bottle of red liquid from her jacket. She looked up and saw the full moon shone on her face and she wondered, if Anthony hadn't been there waiting for her, would she really do it? Who would she brought back from the In Between?

Her free hand took out her wand and vanished the bottle. She pointed her wand towards the small cottage, focusing on a specific spell book tucked safely in a forgotten box under her bed, and vanished it.

She looked up at the moon again as she said, "I guess I have to let you go, Frederick."

A gush of wind hit her cheek softly and she chuckled. She walked five steps more before she disapparate to meet Anthony, the only person who knew about the ritual she did.

 _Yeah. Bringing Sirius Black back is enough._

 **ー**

 ** _Fin._**

 ** _ー_**

 ** _It took longer because I was distracted with new story! Should have finished this first!_**

 ** _Dear CD - leave your email so we can talk! I hope everything goes well with your family and work. You'll always got a friend in me! And like the chapter before, this one is for you, too!_**

 ** _Thank you everyone for reading Before They Met!_**

 ** _x_**


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